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Luxury home from home villa, in peaceful tropical surroundings

Luxury home from home villa, in peaceful tropical surroundings

The property was designed by a local architect and the simplicity of the design with lofty, light filled interiors, enhanced by contemporary furniture and the bold use of colour creates an environment which is a joy to encounter. High ceilings and natural airflow keep the villa cool sustained by the natural cement floors.
The owners will not be present during the stay. They are represented by the managers, Prem and Sunitha, the on site husband and wife team who also provide services to all guests, including housekeeping and cooking, security, cleaning and pool cleaning. There is also a team of 3 drivers with tuk tuks for local trips and air conditioned mini buses for airport transfers and longer distance trips
Sunitha is happy to cook breakfast, lunch and/ or dinner for you, for a small extra charge (we suggest 1,200 LKR per day). All you need do is decide what you wish to eat, pay for (or buy) the ingredients.
There are 3 bedrooms each with a super kingsize bed, additionally there are two single inflatable airbeds. The minimum stay is 2 nights, except between 11th December and 6th January when the minimum stay is 1 week. There is a supplement for weekend (only) stays, please enquire before booking. There is a supplement of £20 per additional person per night for more than 6 guests.
There are no pets allowed. Smoking permitted outside only.
The glassy lagoon - literally on the doorstep –hosts abundant and extraordinary wildlife with parakeets, kingfishers, cormorants ,sea eagles and mynah birds that roost in the jungle bordering the lagoon and monitors, iguanas, chipmonks and leaf monkeys that visit the garden by day; while fruit bats fill the skies at dusk,
Locals say that the water never looks the same and changes constantly depending on the weather, time of day and activities of the fishermen. Fish off the house paddle boat or simply sit on the jetty to marvel at the brilliance of the location. While Hikkaduwa beach (with excellent surf, diving and a variety of restaurants and nightlife) is a mere 10 minutes away (300 to 400 LKR single fare to Hikkaduwa, depending upon the time of day/night).
Nearest airport: Colombo (2.5 hours)
Nearest train station: Hikkaduwa ( 3 miles)
Car is not necessary. We have a team of drivers with tuk tuks (rickshaws) and air conditioned buses
Please note, should you wish to use your own driver, we do not offer driver (overnight) accomodation

Overview

The property was designed by a local architect and the simplicity of the design with lofty, light filled interiors, enhanced by contemporary furniture and the bold use of colour creates an environment which is a joy to encounter. High ceilings and natural airflow keep the villa cool sustained by the natural cement floors.

The owners will not be present during the stay. They are represented by the managers, Prem and Sunitha, the on site husband and wife team who also provide services to all guests, including housekeeping and cooking, security, cleaning and pool cleaning. There is also a team of 3 drivers with tuk tuks for local trips and air conditioned mini buses for airport transfers and longer distance trips

Sunitha is happy to cook breakfast, lunch and/ or dinner for you, for a small extra charge (we suggest 1,200 LKR per day). All you need do is decide what you wish to eat, pay for (or buy) the ingredients.

There are 3 bedrooms each with a super kingsize bed, additionally there are two single inflatable airbeds. The minimum stay is 2 nights, except between 11th December and 6th January when the minimum stay is 1 week. There is a supplement for weekend (only) stays, please enquire before booking. There is a supplement of £20 per additional person per night for more than 6 guests.

There are no pets allowed. Smoking permitted outside only.

The glassy lagoon - literally on the doorstep –hosts abundant and extraordinary wildlife with parakeets, kingfishers, cormorants ,sea eagles and mynah birds that roost in the jungle bordering the lagoon and monitors, iguanas, chipmonks and leaf monkeys that visit the garden by day; while fruit bats fill the skies at dusk,

Locals say that the water never looks the same and changes constantly depending on the weather, time of day and activities of the fishermen. Fish off the house paddle boat or simply sit on the jetty to marvel at the brilliance of the location. While Hikkaduwa beach (with excellent surf, diving and a variety of restaurants and nightlife) is a mere 10 minutes away (300 to 400 LKR single fare to Hikkaduwa, depending upon the time of day/night).

Nearest airport: Colombo (2.5 hours)

Nearest train station: Hikkaduwa ( 3 miles)

Car is not necessary. We have a team of drivers with tuk tuks (rickshaws) and air conditioned buses

Please note, should you wish to use your own driver, we do not offer driver (overnight) accomodation

About Philippa and Paul Shepherd

We are Paul and Philippa Shepherd from Lincolnshire in the UK. We are married with 4 kids between us between the ages of 18 and 29.

We built The Retreat on land sourced by our agent.

Originally, it was to be our holiday home and we had no intention of renting it out, but had such wonderful comments from friends and family, together with an inability to get there more than twice a year, decided to take the jump. we are glad we did!

Philippa and Paul Shepherd purchased this villa in 2012

Why Philippa and Paul Shepherd chose Southern Province

We wished to build a "home from home", in a quiet and beautiful location and offering complete privacy, but close enough to facilities to have the best of both worlds. We think we achieved this!

What makes this villa unique

We wanted a modern and open plan living space, with all "mod cons" and in beautiful surroundings. The Retreat was our dream property, conceived from a sketch plan and interpreted by a local architect

(4 traveler reviews)

Fabulous

Plotos don't do the property justice. We had a fabulous 3 weeks being thoroughly spoilt by Sunitha and Prem. They kept the house, gardens and pool spotless. We went in low season so the nearest town of Hikaduwa was pretty quiet but there were still bars and restaurants open along the beach. Trips to Yala and also Galle and a boat safari were all great. We would definitely go back to the house and can't thank Sunitha and Prem enough for all their hard work and fabulous food.

Submitted: Jun 27, 2017

Stayed: May 2017

Source: HomeAway

Owner's Response: Thank you so much Lissie for this great review. I will ensure Prem and Sunitha read it. We welcome a return visit anytime

A beautiful villa with superb pool and delightful gardens.

We have just returned from a wonderful holiday to beautiful Sri Lanka. We are a family of 5 - our children are twins of 13 and our youngest is 5. We spent the first week of our holiday at the The Retreat and what a glorious week we had. From the moment we arrived and were greeted by the wonderful Prem and Sunitha we began to relax. The children explored the fantastic gardens and within the first couple of hours had been introduced by Prem to water monitors, coconut squirrels and a vast array of exotic birds. Sunitha had prepared the most delicious evening meal - plates were scraped clean and we all agreed it was some of the most delicious food we had ever eaten!

The week continued in much the same way. The pool was so inviting and the children spent many hours playing in it - our youngest managed his first few strokes unaided. Having sampled Sunithas food we decided to take full advantage and asked her to prepare all our evening meals - we gave her money to buy the ingredients and she encouraged me to take a trip to the local fruit and veg market which was a real treat! Breakfast was also wonderful - so much fresh, beautiful fruit and some we had never tried before such as dragon fruit! When we managed to tear ourselves away from the villa we ventured out locally to the beach (around 10 mins away in a tuk tuk), a local turtle conservation project, the Tsunami museum, Hikkaduwa and Galle among others - all great excursions organised by the staff. One evening Prem took the boys out onto the lagoon in his boat where they were treated to a tour of the fantastic wildlife. We were sorry to leave and vowed to return some time!

Submitted: Nov 7, 2016

Stayed: Oct 2016

Source: HomeAway

Owner's Response: Hi Julia, it is truly wonderful to see such an excellent review of not only the house and grounds, our pride and joy, but also of our staff who we prefer to call our extended family. We shall certainly pass on your comments and we would to host you and your family again in the future

Peaceful, tropical lakeside retreat!

Very well maintained holiday home. Very clean and comfortable. Lovely, peaceful location. The photos on the website do not do this villa justice! Pool was cleaned every morning by Prem who co managed the property with his wife Sunita who cooked delicious meals at your request (guests pay for the ingredients and it is at the guests' discretion what to pay Sunita for her cooking time at the end of your stay) . The water temperature of the pool was perfect even though it was not heated. Prem took us on the lake in the rowing boat one evening which was very relaxing. Lots of wildlife to see, including birds, chipmunks etc. Although Prem and Sunita live in separate accommodation a few yards from the Retreat they do not impose and respect your privacy but are always on hand to help if needed. Galle Forte, Turtle Sanctuary and River Boat Cruise are a must and all within a tuk tuk ride. There are 3 brothers assigned to the villa operating tuk tuk and mini van service which was very good value, very friendly and polite. We used them to visit nearby attractions and our return trip to Colombo airport. We would highly recommend The Retreat for both couples and families. Our only regret was we didn't stay longer! Would definitely stay here again! Thank you to Sunita and Prem for making our stay so enjoyable.

Submitted: Aug 15, 2015

Stayed: Jul 2015

Source: HomeAway

Owner's Response: Thank you so much for this lovely review, we will of course pass on your comments to all the staff all of whom are very proud at the role they each play in making The Retreat a wonderful holiday expedience. We welcome your return visit